Dan Freedman

Visiting Bow Friday 26th November

Biography• Dan Freedman’s football career began when his

dad took him to his first match when he was four. He was immediately bitten by the bug.

• Having decided he wanted to become a sports journalist when he was 13, he built up CV of considerable work experience while he was still at school and University.

• In 2000, having graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Bristol, he landed a job at The Football Association, where he worked for the next seven years. As The FA’s Editor, he travelled all over the world covering the England Football Team over the course of two World Cup campaigns.

• In 2007, his debut football novel The Kick Off was published. It is the start of a series, following lead character Jamie Johnson from his school team through to his dreams of becoming a professional player. It has been endorsed by Steven Gerrard

• The sequel, Shoot to Win, endorsed by Gary Lineker, was published in May 2008.

• Golden Goal was endorsed by Frank Lampard and published in May 2009.

• Born to Play soon followed and was written specifically for World Book Day. It is a prequel and goes back in time to when Jamie was 11.

• Man of the Match was published for the World Cup last year and endorsed by Ryan Giggs.

The start of Jamie Johnson's football career. He's got so much to prove, The pressure's on, but has Jamie got what it takes?

Jamie's got everything to play for  – scouts from top clubs are coming to watch him play! This is his big chance and he can't wait to show off his latest move but the new coach is bearing a grudge...Has Jamie missed his chance?

There's a massive buzz around Jamie Johnson. His dreams of becoming a professional footballer seem to be coming true. But, just when he seems close to living the dream, a shocking event turns his world upside down...

Jamie Johnson is fast becoming the most popular player in the country. He's playing the best football of his career for his beloved Hawkstone. But life at the top of the league isn't as easy as it seems..And Hawkstone are about to sign a new winger...

This is a special story about Jamie when he was 11. It’s inspired by something that happened to Wayne Rooney when he was the same age. It’s a prequel to the other books and a great introduction to the series.

As this book was written specifically for World Book Day

Complete the activities to WIN A PRIZE!• Activity 1: Answer the questions.• Activity 2: Design your own book cover for Dan

Freedman’s latest book. Don’t forget the blurb!• Activity 3: Recount your favourite funny football

story! Use Dan’s guidelines! • Activity 4: Come up with your best sentence!• Activity 5: Make up FIVE really good questions

to ask him next Wednesday.• Activity 6: Perfect Jamie’s football skills

Give your entries to your English teacher before Wednesday, 3pm.

Footballs, books and a football skills training session to be won! See the skills to be learnt during the session! They’re in the series!

Activity 1: Answer these questions to win a prize!

• What is the name of Dan Freedman’s first book? _____________________________________________

• Who is the footballer who endorsed Dan Freedman’s second book? ___________________

• When is his next book due to come out? ______________

• What job did he do before he became a writer? ____________________________________________________

• What did Dan Freedman want to do when he was 13? _______________________________________________________

• What is the name of the main character in his novels? _______________________________________________________

Activity 3: Writing your own funny football Use Dan’s tips to create your own!•Embarrassing! You can never go too far wrong embarrassing situations…Have you ever been in one? Put it in the story…How about the time Jamie gets caught commentating on his own dribbling in The Kick Off, page 29-30?•Gross Outs! Have a look at Born to Play, page 13 where kids in the playground throw sickballs. Or Golden Goal page 74, where the boys try to puss their spots into a target zone in the mirror! Or all the dog poo on Seaport Town’s training pitches (Man of the Match, page 55). A bit of gross action’s always a winner!•Real Stories! Think about a real story that’s happened to you or you’ve seen happen to someone else. Real life is funnier than anything else. Football-wise, so many funny things happen on the pitch in every game. Once a player called Di Canio pushed over a referee! That’s what gave me the idea for Jamie to do the same by mistake on page 70 of Man of the Match.•Names and Words: Funny names are always a good one. Have a look at Shoot to Win, page 75 when Jamie finds out Mr Hansard’s first name! Or what about some of the things Dillon calls Jamie on page 73 of Shoot to Win.•People trying to be Cool! It’s funny when people try to be too cool! What about Bertorelli’s appearance on page 29 of Man of the Match? Jamie thinks he looks like a girl! And in The Kick Off on page 24, Jamie gets all sensitive about the colour of his hair!

Activity 4: Improving the detail in sentences

Simple sentence: • The shot flew past the keeper’s dive.

Complex sentence:• The stunning rocket of a shot flew past the

‘keeper’s despairing dive, thundering into the back of the net off the underside of the quivering crossbar. (By Dan Freedman)

• Come up with your own!

Improve the sentence by adding a subordinate clause and adjectives.

Activity 6: Impress the crowds and perfect these!

The Cross over!

Drag backs!

Visit his websitewhere you can hear Dan reading for his books and

completing interviews

• Dan Freedman - dantheauthor.co.uk

Jamie Johnson has just moved schools. He was captain of his previous school's football team and he is desperate to make his mark at Kingfield. Jamie lives and breathes football. He doesn't think of anything else. And he's determined to prove his undoubted ability. For Jamie is talented. Quick, tactically aware and committed, he has the potential to go all the way. But has he got the temperament? Sent off twice in his first two matches at Kingfield, it seems perhaps he hasn't. It's always someone else's fault and never Jamie's. Jamie's grandfather, Mike, just might have the answer in a training manual written years ago for him by one of the country's best football scouts...

Jamie was in shock. His mouth hung open. The coach couldn't just take him off! Jamie's got a huge match coming up and everything to play for - scouts from top clubs are coming to watch! He can't wait to show off his latest move but the new coach is bearing a grudge...Has Jamie missed his chance?

Give your entries to your English teacher before 3.30

on Wednesday!

Good luck!

Dan Freedman

Visiting Friday 26th November